Burns Taking Positives From Donington Troubles

Will Burns has set his sights on challenging for regular top six finishes at Thruxton next weekend after suffering double disappointment in the latest rounds of the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup at Donington Park.

The G55 newcomer hinted at the potential he holds with a strong seventh place in qualifying for the opening race of the second weekend of the season, though a fall back to tenth at the finish was a frustrating result for the Academy Motorsport racer.

That would unfortunately be the only finish Burns made on the weekend though, with a great start to the wet second race ruined when he was the innocent victim of contact on his inside, with his car being speared off into the barriers and out of the race.

Luck was on his side at the start of race three, when Burns was the first runner to make a gamble to change from wets to slicks as the grid formed. That moved him from the back of the grid to the front of the queue of the slick runners, who ultimately went on to storm to the front.

Burns would only maintain his advantage for a lap though, when contact from Fergus Walkinshaw spun him around at Redgate, with team-mate Sean Huyton unfortunately clipping the rear wing off his stricken G55.

Burns aimed to continue, but ultimately he was forced to pull over and retire. While frustrated at the double DNF, the 2013 Ginetta GT5 Challenge vice-champion is happy with the pace shown over the weekend.

“The team worked fantastically to the get the car out for race three as there was a lot of damage,” said Burns.

“The opening lap was about warming up the tyres before charging for those on wets in front. But there was an over-eager competitor who decided to try his luck off-line in the wet, clipped my rear. I still tried to make progress but I had significantly less downforce and it made the task impossible and I pulled over.

“I was very close to pole position and so in the dry I can really challenge. The team has a good wet setup too, so whatever the conditions at Thruxton, I’ll be able to mount an assault within the top six.”